Eyeglass construction



Aug. 4, 1936. G, E, E Y 2,049,511

EYEGLAS S CONSTRUCTION Filed March 30, 1934 INVENTOR 9e 1' e E. ll rmg BY 0 I M5831 M ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 4, 193" EYEGLASS CONSTRUCTION George E. Nerney, Attleboro, assignor to Bay State Optical Company, Attleboro, Mass,

a corporation of Maine Application March 30,

1 Claim.

. This invention relates to an eyeglass construction and more particularly to the lens-connecting portion of a pair of spectacles.

One'of the objects of .this invention is to provide an eyeglass construction which may bereadily manufactured with a minimum amount of labor and from inexpensive materials. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character which will-be simple, practical and thoroughly durable. a construction of the above character whichmay be assembled for use with extreme ease and with few tools. Another object is :to provide aconstruction of the above character which is neat and attractive in appearance and at the same time rugged. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character in which certain of the parts thereof are made inconspicuous to enhance the general appearance thereof. Another object is to provide a construction of the above character in which there is a snug fit between the lens and the parts connected thereto. Other objectswill be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemplified in the structure to be hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claim.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of this invention,

Figure 1 is an enlarged front elevation of certain parts of an eyeglass frame having my invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a plan View of one of the blanks forming a part of the construction shown in Figure 1, before it is bent into the shape shown in Figure 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawmg.

To comprehend more readily some of the more important features of this invention, it might here be pointed out that certain difficulties are encountered in the assembly of frames such as the rifnless type. Frames of this general nature are characterized by a series of lens-connecting means adjacent the opposite ends of the bridge and adjacent each endpiece having straps extending over the opposite plane surfaces of the lenses. Ihe retailer receives these parts from Another object is to provide 1934, Serial No. 718,113

the manufacturer andmust'fit them to the lenses prescribed for the customer. Very .often the lenses usedin these framesaretoric in shape and thus :the straps adjacent the concave surfaces thereof must be bent .with'pliers or the like in order to conform with the'shape of the lenses. Due to the minute character. .of these parts, this is a tedious .task and may often result in a'p'oor lens connection even when accomplished by experts. If an attempt is made to draw the arm down .uponthe concave. side of the lens often the threads on the screw or on the arm 'are stripped .thus causing more bother and inconvenience. One ofthe objects of this invention is to provide a construction in which the several diificulties hereinabove mentioned as well as many others are successfully overcome.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, 'there is shown in Figure 1 a fragmentary portion of a lens lllhaving any suitableperipheral shape. The plane surfaces of lens It are toric in shape, the front side Hla thereof being convex and the rear side lilb preferably concave (Figure 2) Connected to lens Iii preferably by a screw, H is a lens-connecting part generally indicated at J2 to be described more fully hereinafter. Part l2..may be connected to eitherside of thelens and mayq-have-connected thereto either the end of a bridge or an endpiece. Illustratively I have here shown a bridge member generally indicated at I3 secured to part 12 and having a depending end portion M to which a nose guard I5 is secured in any suitable manner.

Still referring to Figure 1, an element "5 is in engagement with a portion of the periphery of lens Ill and secured to one side thereof substantiall at its central portion is a strap H extending over the convex surface we of lens I 0. Thus strap l1 appears on the front side of the resultant frame as surface Illa preferably forms the front surface of the lens when the frame is worn. Strap I! has an enlarged end portion Ila which may take any convenient shape although here shown as substantially square. End portion Ila, as best shown in Figures 1 and 2, is sufliciently large to carry a countersunk hole 18 into which the head Ha of screw H fits. Furthermore, hole i8 is in registry with a hole l9 (Figure 2) extending through lens ill.

As more clearly shown in Figures 1 and 3, a strap 20 is secured to element It substantially near the central portion thereof and extends over the concave surface Hlb of lens i9. Strap 20 has an enlarged end portion 20a having formed therein a threaded hole 2| into which screw H is threaded (Figure 2). As best shown in Figure 1, end portion 20a is much smaller than end portion Ila. and in fact is usually made just large enough to support the threads of hole 2|. Furthermore, that portion 20b of strap 20 located between end portion 20a and element I8 is also preferably smaller in width and thickness than the corresponding portion Nb of strap ll'. Accordingly all portions of strap l1 are larger than the corresponding portions of strap 20, and, as strap I1 is in registry therewith and on the front side of lens I0, it covers strap 20 completely when the frame is viewed from the front as worn. This helps in a large measure to make the lensconnecting part l2 as inconspicuous as possible, thus to enhance the general appearance of the frame.

When the lens-connecting part I2 is to be connected to the lens I0, the straps l1 and are bent from the position shown in Figure 3 into a substantially right angular relation with respect to element I6. Of course this may be accomplished by the manufacturer before shipping to the retailer as is generally the case. The lens I0 is then fitted snugly against element l6 (Figure 2) and the screw ll inserted in holes l8 and I9 to be threaded into hole 2| (Figure 3).

Rotation of screw ll next draws the strap 20 down flush against the concave surface Illb of the lens into the position shown in Figure 2. Due to the small size of portion 20b of strap 20,'the strap may be drawn down into a position flush with surface lllb without stripping the threads on the screw or in hole 2|. This eliminates the necessity of bending strap 2!) with pliers or the like in order to make it fit snugly against the surface Hlb. Furthermore the small area occupied by end portion Zlla; of strap 20 allows this portion of the strap to be drawn snugly against the concave surface of the lens. Accordingly not only may the strap 20 be drawn into a snug fitting position, as shown in Figure 2, by the simple operation of rotating the screw,but, also, the resultant connection of the part I2 and the lens I0 is tight and well able to withstand wear and tear. Furthermore, while providing an extreme ly durable lens-connecting part I2 I have not sacrificed the ultimate general appearance of the frame but to the contrary have enhanced the frame by making the strap 20 smaller and thus less conspicuous.

Accordingly it will be seen that I have provided a thoroughly practical and efficient construction in which the several objects hereinabove referred to are successfully accomplished.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawing is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

In eyeglass construction, in combination, a toric lens the edge of which extends acutely from the concave surface thereof and obtusely from the convex surface thereof, a part engaging a portion of said edge, a substantially rigid strap connected to said part and extending therefrom and engaging said convex surface, a'pliable strap smaller in transverse cross sectional area than said rigid strap and connected to said part i and extending therefrom over said concave surface, said pliable strap being adapted to be drawn into flat' engagement along itsentirelength with said concave surface, the vertical angle between the upper edges of said straps and said part being acute, and said straps each having an enlarged portion formed on the free ends thereof, each of said enlarged portions having holes 6X7 tending therethrough, and a screw extending through said holes and said lens and threadable into the hole in said pliable strap to draw said pliable strap against said concave surface, the axis of said screw being inclined with respect to the plane of said part, there being substantially less material at the junction of said pliable strap and said part than at the junction of said rigid strap and said part whereby when said pliable strap is drawn into substantially flat engagement with said concave surface there is no tendency, due to the relative rigidity of said rigid strap, to

pull said pliable strap against the portion of said lens immediately adjacent the edge of the concave surface thereof. 7

GEORGE E. NERNEY. I 

